For a while now, I've been using an app called Duet Display with my 12.9" iPad Pro, allowing it to act as a second screen for my Macbook Pro at home. It was a "look, but don't touch" scenario and, to be honest, I didn't use it very often -- my iPad Pro, all by itself, ran iOS versions of all my macOS apps, so worked as a surrogate second screen just fine. Same thing at the office: I could pull up Outlook, Slack, SOLIDWORKS websites all quite happily with the native app, so Duet never made it way onto my Dell M3800.
All that has changed overnight, literally. Duet Display has come out with a "Pro" version of their app, and for $20/year you can have Duet on an iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil act very similar to a Wacom Cintiq. This opens up some great possibilities, even for SOLIDWORKS users -- especially those who are using SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer.
How does it work?
- Purchase and install the Duet Display app on your iPad Pro device, which is a one-time $20 charge.
- Download and install the Duet Display desktop app for Mac or Windows -- desktop apps are free, and you can use your iPad Pro with multiple computers (like home and work, for example). Pro tip: make sure you reboot your computer after installing the app, even if it doesn't ask you to do so.
- Connect your iPad Pro to your desktop with a standard Lightning-to-USB cable.
- Start the Duet Display app on your iPad Pro, and then turn on the Duet Display Pro option. You will be charged $20 for a year of Pro-level functionality.
- On the desktop, use the method you normally use to Extend or Duplicate your display to the iPad Pro.
That's it! Once you get things up and running, you can immediately start trying your applications and seeing how the touch and Apple Pencil work with them. Naturally, the first thing I did was fire up SOLIDWORKS Industrial Designer -- and the results were nothing short of FANTASTIC. Check out my little iPhone-captured video showing how it works!
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